HIMSS News
2008 Election Results and Implications for Health IT
CHICAGO, IL (November 5, 2008) - As this exciting election year comes to a close, Democrats retain a majority in the U.S. Congress, with 56 Senate seats and 251 seats in the House of Representatives. As health information technology (IT) is a bi-partisan issue among members of Congress, health IT will continue to play a leading role in policy to transform the delivery of healthcare in the U.S. This article provides some insights into the election results with key highlights and implications for 2009. At the end, we encourage you to join us for a complimentary HIMSS webinar for complete details on the implications of the 2008 elections and health IT.
Presidential Race
What began as an improbable idea has turned into a reality for our nation now that U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) has been elected as our 44th president with an unofficial total of 338 electoral votes and 51 percent of the popular vote. President-Elect Obama addressed the nation from Grant Park in Chicago last evening where he called on the nation to work together to solve many of our most challenging problems. Senator Obama comes from Illinois where HIMSS is headquartered and he promises to be a visionary leader on healthcare reform. (For details on his health plan, please visit http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/.) Senator Obama will be inaugurated as our next President on January 20 in Washington, D.C. In the meantime, the Obama transition team will continue put together his senior management team for the new administration. HIMSS is closely following who will be selected as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Congressional Races
At the congressional level, Democrats have expanded their majorities in both the Senate and the House. It is interesting to note that based on the election results, Democrats will have control of both the executive and legislative branches starting in 2009 for the first time since 1993, when President Bill Clinton was elected.
Democrats bolstered their majority in the U.S. Senate, but it appears they did not gain the 60-vote “supermajority” they hoped to attain to override Republican filibusters. The current results show the U.S. Senate with 56 Democrats and 40 Republicans. This new alignment is up from the current makeup of 51-49. Democrats picked up seats in Colorado, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina and Virginia. HIMSS was especially interested in the Virginia Senate race where former governor and technology executive Mark Warner easily won former Senator John Warner’s seat.
In the Senate, leadership on prominent committees with healthcare jurisdiction will not change. Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), Chair of the Senate Finance Committee defeated Bob Kelleher in Montana and Senator Michael Enzi (R-WY), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee defeated Chris Rothfuss in Wyoming. And Senator Ted Kennedy, who was not up for re-election, still plans to return to Washington in January to introduce health reform legislation and chair the HELP Committee in the111th Congress.
The U.S. House of Representatives also saw Democrats solidify their majority, but fell short of the substantial gains many Republicans had feared. It appears that Democrats are poised to make a net gain of at least 16 seats, augmenting the 30-seat gain that they made in the 2006 elections to reverse a dozen years of House Republican rule. Democrats unseated at least 10 Republican incumbents and also captured at least 10 other districts that Republicans left open to retire or seek other offices. Four Democratic incumbents were defeated. HIMSS Member and State Representative Judy Baker ran a great race for a U.S. House seat in Missouri, but fell slightly short of a majority to win.
Preliminary results show that the House will have 251 Democrats and 173 Republicans, up from the current 233-198 with 4 vacancies. In the U.S. House of Representatives, leadership of the Ways & Means and Energy & Commerce Committees will remain the same with the exception of the Ranking Member position on the Ways and Means Committee. This year, Ranking Member Mike McCrery (R-LA) announced that he would not seek re-election in 2008. Therefore, House Republicans will determine the next Ranking Member. Potential candidates include Representative Wally Herger (R-CA) and Representative Dave Camp (R-MI).
State Races
At the state level, Democrats will control 29 governor’s offices to 21 for the Republicans, a gain of one in Missouri. It is interesting to note that Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire (D) won re-election where she is promoting health reform using health record banks. Currently, results for state legislatures are still being tabulated. Seventy-nine percent of the states' 7,382 legislative seats were up for election and up-to-date results can be found at http://www.ncsl.org/statevote/StateVote2008.htm.
Conclusion and Next Steps
Now that the elections are over and most of the votes have been counted, we turn to 2009, where we can expect healthcare policy to take center stage in Washington, D.C. HIMSS has over 100 volunteers and many staff members, as well as representatives from other national associations working on the Healthcare Transformation Using HIT Workgroup making health IT recommendations for the new Obama Administration and new 111th Congress. Five subgroups are supporting the deliberations of the Workgroup, focusing on areas of access, quality, cost, consumer empowerment, and privacy and security.
In the first months of the 111th Congress, members will take up SCHIP reauthorization and healthcare reform legislation. Prominent health IT legislation, such as S. 1693, the Wired for Health Care Quality Act, is sure to be reintroduced.
An Invitation for a Complimentary HIMSS Webinar
For complete updates, we encourage you to join us for a complimentary HIMSS webinar titled “Post-Election Highlights and Implications for HIT Policy Changes in 2009” on Wednesday, November 12, from Noon – 1:00 P.M. Eastern. A clinician and former member of Congress will keynote this “member benefit” webinar where you will learn how to prepare for the upcoming 111th Congress, how to prepare for upcoming state legislative sessions with a guest speaker from the National Conference of State Legislatures, and insights into the new Obama Administration and health IT highlights.
